


5 Times Meng Shao Fei Visited Tang Yi in Prison... and 1 Time He Didn't

by Alipeeps



Category: HIStory3 - 圈套 | HIStory3: Trap
Genre: 5 Times, Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-06-02 05:14:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19434658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alipeeps/pseuds/Alipeeps
Summary: Shao Fei seems to have a habit of getting himself into trouble. And that doesn't end when Tang Yi goes to prison...





	1. Chapter 1

_1._

Tang Yi’s heart lifts every time he is ushered into the visiting room and sees Shao Fei’s familiar face waiting for him on the other side of the glass screen. He treasures their weekly visits, measuring the passage of his sentence in week-long blocks of time, marked out by the chance to see the man he loves, to hear his voice and see him smile.

But on this occasion his own smile falters as he moves to take his seat on his side of the glass.

He lifts the handset. “What happened to your face?” he demands, before Shao Fei can even speak.

Shao Fei blinks in confusion, eyes opening wide, for a moment before touching a finger to his lip with an “Oh” and a disarming smile.

“It’s nothing.” He dismissed. “I’d forgotten about it.”

It’s not nothing. Shao Fei’s bottom lip is split, red and swollen and marred by an angry-looking scab.

“What happened?” He repeats tightly.

Shao Fei’s smile falls and his expressive eyes turn beseeching.

“Tang Yi…” he pouts. “Honestly, it’s nothing. Please don’t worry about it.”

Tang Yi has a lot of practice in steeling himself against that pout but it still takes an effort to remain stern. It works though.

Shao Fei huffs a sigh. “It was an accident, really Tang Yi. The guy we were arresting got a little frisky and my face got in the way. He didn’t even mean to hit me exactly, he was just lashing out.”

Lashing out. Lashing out at his Shao Fei. Tang Yi felt a familiar anger coiling hot and acid in his stomach, the desire to punish anyone who would hurt those that he loved.

“Tang Yi… please?” Shao Fei was serious now, not smiling or pouting, but earnest. “It was an accident. And I’m a cop… these things happen sometimes… it comes with the job.”

And Tang Yi hated that. Hated that Shao Fei was putting himself in danger. Especially now, when Tang Yi was trapped in this place, unable to help, unable to protect him.

“Seriously, Tang Yi. It’s nothing. I’m fine. Please?”

Shao Fei reaches out and pressed his hand against the glass, and Tang Yi wishes more than anything that he could touch him, could wrap him up in his embrace and hold him close. He misses that more than anything. With a sigh he leans forward and put his hand to the glass too, his palm against Shao Fei’s, only the cold smoothness of the glass barrier preventing skin from touching skin. He imagines he can feel the warmth of Shao Fei’s touch through the glass.

“I can’t help it,” he grumbles. “I worry about you.”

“I know.” Shao Fei’s honest, open face shows his every emotion, and his eyes are filled with affection. “And I am being careful, I promise.”

Tang Yi feels his lips curve in a begrudging smile. “Not careful enough,” he prods, nodding at the split lip. Shao Fei isn’t the only one who can pout to good effect.

Shao Fei laughs at that, letting his hand fall. “Then I promise I will try harder, for you,” he grins.

Tang Yi sits back, feeling some of the tightness in his chest ease. “I’ll hold you to that,” he warns teasingly, projecting a lightness he doesn’t entirely feel.

Shao Fei throws him a mock salute and he can’t help but grin. His heart swells with love for this maddening, mercurial man.

“Anyway,” he changes the subject, “apart from putting your face in the way of flying fists, how has your week been?”

Shao Fei chortles at that, his whole face lighting up. “Oh my goodness, you would not believe what Jack did. Zhao Zi told me that…”

* * *

2.

“Okay, Tang Yi, please don’t be mad, it’s not as bad as it seems…”

Shao Fei started talking the second Tang Yi lifted the handset.

He’d risen to his feet the moment he caught sight of Tang Yi, his face apprehensive as Tang Yi’s gaze had immediately dropped to the sling on Shao Fei’s left arm and he’d hurried forward to the glass barrier, reaching out instinctively, his hand pressed to the glass.

“Shao Fei! What happened?!”

“I’m okay, really.”

“Shao Fei!”

“It’s just a small fracture,” Shao Fei said earnestly. “It’ll be fine in a few weeks.”

A small fracture. A few weeks. Or, in more realistic terms Shao Fei had a broken arm and was going to be wearing a…

“Splint or plaster?”

“Just a splint.” Shao Fei wiggled his fingers.

Tang Yi took a long, deliberate breath, trying to calm himself down. Shao Fei was going to be wearing a splint for a couple of months. He sat down carefully, made his voice gentle.

“What happened, Ah Fei?”

Shao Fei sat back in his seat with a grimace. “Ah, it’s my own stupid fault,” he grumbled. “I was chasing a suspect and he tried to slam a door on me. I couldn’t slow down in time but I managed to put my hand out and…” he lifted the aforementioned arm with a rueful shrug (and, Tang Yi noticed, with a poorly-hidden wince).

Tang Yi pressed his lips together and did his best to ignore Shao Fei’s puppy dog eyes.

“I thought you promised to be careful,” he said eventually.

“I did! I… I am!” Shao Fei protested.

Tang Yi raised his eyebrows with a pointed look at Shao Fei’s sling.

“I was being careful though…” Shao Fei pouted. “How was I to know the guy would suddenly stop running and try and hit me with a door?”

* * *

_3._

The first thing that Tang Yi noticed when the guard ushered him into the visiting room was that Shao Fei was wearing sunglasses. Indoors.

His throat was tight as he lifted the handset.

“Tang Yi!” Shao Fei’s smile was as wide as ever. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” Tang Yi said carefully. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” Shao Fei grinned. “Happy to see you.”

Tang Yi nodded. “It’s good to see you too. Not that I can see much of you…” He gestured vaguely around his eyes, watching Shao Fei’s smile falter a little.

“Hmm? Oh, the glasses. Yeah, it’s really bright out there today.” For a policeman, Shao Fei really was a shockingly bad liar.

“You’re indoors,” Tang Yi pointed out calmly.

“Yeah,” Shao Fei agreed nervously.

“Shao Fei…” The resignation in Tang Yi’s voice made Shao Fei start babbling.

“Really Tang Yi, it’s nothing, I know how you get and I just didn’t want to worry you…”

“Show me,” Tang Yi interrupted.

“Tang Yi….” Shao Fei wheedled. “Honestly, it’s not…”

“…as bad as it looks,” Tang Yi parroted acidly.

Shao Fei sighed. With a reluctant pout, he took off the sunglasses.

Tang Yi took a slow breath.

“Tang Yi…”

He shook his head, a tight ache building in his chest. The skin around Shao Fei’s right eye was mottled and discoloured, purple and blue for the most part, a smudge beside the bridge of his nose so dark as to be almost black, the edges only just beginning to tinge green and yellow.

“Do I even want to know?” Tang Yi asked softly.

Shao Fei shrugged unhappily. “It’s my own fault,” he said. “I was booking this guy in and he seemed perfectly calm… he caught me off-guard.”

Somehow the black eye made his puppy dog eyes all the more effective. “Out of nowhere, he elbowed me in the face and made a run for it. Zhao Zi tackled him,” he explained morosely.

Shao Fei’s embarrassment at almost losing his suspect whilst in the actual police station and being “rescued” by Zhao Zi almost made Tang Yi smile. Almost.

“Does it hurt?” he asked gently.

Shao Fei’s eyes softened, and he smiled at Tang YI with such affection that Tang Yi’s heart ached. “Not anymore,” he murmured.

Tang Yi sighed. “What am I going to do with you, Shao Fei?” He shook his head in exasperation.

Shao Fei’s smile turned wicked. “You can kiss it better for me. When you get out.”

“It’ll be all healed up by then,” Tang Yi pointed out, sobering at the thought of the long months that still stretched ahead of him.

“You can still kiss it better,” Shao Fei grinned. “I’ll add it to the list.”

“The list?”

“Of all the places you need to kiss when you get out of here…”

* * *

_4._

“Shao Fei…” Tang Yi took a deep breath and focused very hard on keeping his voice calm. “You’re bleeding.”

“Huh, what?” The fact that Shao Fei immediately looked at his arm made Tang Yi’s teeth clench.

He’d tried. He really had. He knew Shao Fei had his best interests at heart and hated to see him worry over things he couldn’t do anything about so he’d gritted his teeth and not said anything about the fact that Shao Fei was wearing a long-sleeved top on a hot summer’s day, or about the bandage that he’d noticed peeking out from under the edge Shao Fei’s sleeve when he’d pressed his hand to the glass partition in their now customary greeting.

But he couldn’t pretend to ignore the spot of red soaking through Shao Fei’s sleeve.

“Oh shit!” Tang Yi supposed he could take comfort in the fact that Shao Fei’s reaction to finding his sleeve turning red was exasperation rather than surprise or fear. He tried to quell the churning in his stomach as Shao Fei pushed his sleeve up to examine the bandage that covered his forearm from his wrist nearly to his elbow.

Shao Fei grimaced. “Ahhh… I think I might have pulled a stitch…”

Tang Yi swallowed. “Stitches?” he asked, far more calmly than he felt.

“Oh,” Shao Fei looked up guiltily, “Um… yeah. Just a couple.” He pulled the sleeve back down awkwardly, pressing his hand over the bloodied patch with a wince.

“Suspect pulled a knife on Zhao Zi,” he explained indignantly. “I got the knife off him before he could do any damage though,” he beamed.

“To Zhao Zi,” Tang Yi added pointedly.

“Oh well… yeah…” Shao Fei looked at his arm sheepishly. “It’s not that bad, honestly.”

“Then why are you bleeding all over the visiting room?”

Shao Fei shifted uncomfortably. “Ah well, we’ve had to put the suspect in isolation this morning…”

Tang Yi frowned, feeling a familiar anger spooling hot and acid in his stomach. “He attacked you again?”

“Um, no, it’s for his own protection.” He winced. “Jack found out that he attacked Zhao Zi…”

Oh shit. Tang Yi pinched the bridge of his nose. Jack was extremely protective of Zhao Zi.

“It… took some persuading to get Jack to leave the police station,” Shao Fei explained sheepishly.

Tang Yi could well imagine that that was something of an understatement. It probably took Shao Fei’s entire team to hold Jack back from marching straight into the holdling cells, never mind “persuade” him to leave.

Which probably explained…

Tang Yi shook his head in exasperation. This man was going to be the death of him.

“Shao Fei,” he said gently. “Go and see Dr Jiang. Please.”

“It’ll be okay,” Shao Fei insisted stubbornly. “I only just got here.”

Tang Yi closed his eyes for a moment. “Just… go and see him anyway. For me. Please?”

Shao Fei pouted. “I miss you,” he said softly.

“I know. And I miss you too.” Tang Yi smiled. “But you need to get that fixed. Okay?”

“Okay…” Shao Fei stood up reluctantly.

“I’ll see you next week,” Tang Yi pushed.

Shao Fei smiled, that special smile that lit up his whole face, the one meant just for Tang Yi.. “Next week, and the week after, and the week after that,” he promised. “Every week, until you come home.”

* * *

_5._

There was something odd about the way Shao Fei was sitting. They’d been talking happily for a few minutes, both full of smiles at seeing each other, Tang Yi laughing at Shao Fei’s explanation of why he was in Hong Ye’s bad books this week. But there was something wrong with how Shao Fei was sitting.

He was… very still, Tang Yi realised. Shao Fei was a bundle of energy, unfailingly enthusiastic about everything he did, his body as mobile as his expressive face. He didn’t do still. But today the carefree gesturing that usually accompanied his stories was missing. He sat unnaturally still in his chair, leaning to the side a little, Tang Yi noticed, and seemed to be holding himself very carefully.

Tang Yi let Shao Fei finish his story before leaning forward, looking Shao Fei up and down carefully...

“So what else have you been up to this week?” he asked lightly. “Anything exciting happened?”

“Ah, not really,” Shao Fei said. “Just the usual.”

“Nothing… out of the ordinary?” Tang Yi pushed.

“Uh-uh.” Shao Fei shook his head… carefully.

Tang Yi nodded. “So, when Hong Ye visits me tomorrow, she won’t have anything to tell me about your week?”

Shao Fei flushed guiltily, his eyes wide and pleading.

“Tang Yi…”

“Don’t,” he said sternly. “Don’t “Tang Yi…” me.”

Shao Fei’s pout was contrite. “I didn’t want to worry you. I know you hate it when I get hurt, and it frustrates you that you can’t do anything to help…”

“It worries and frustrates me more that you try and hide it from me, Shao Fei!”

Shao Fei’s face fell. “I’m sorry, Tang Yi.” His remorse was genuine, Tang Yi knew, and he also understood that Shao Fei was only, in his own way, trying to protect Tang Yi. But that didn’t make it any less frustrating.

He sat back with a huff and an appraising look at Shao Fei’s stiff posture. “So, what is it this time? Ribs? Broken or bruised?”

“Broken,” Shao Fei admitted reluctantly. “Only the one though.”

Oh good. Just the one broken rib. That’s great. Only by pressing his lips together did Tang Yi manage to refrain from voicing his sarcasm aloud.

Instead he took a deep breath and remembered how much he loved this man, and why seeing him get hurt scared him so much.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

“I’m fine, Tang Yi. Really.” Shao said earnestly. “Dr Jiang checked me over and he said it will heal up just fine on its own.”

“It doesn’t even hurt, really.” The stiff way Shao Fei was sitting said otherwise but Tang Yi decided not to push him on it.

“You’re going to take it easy though, right?” His tone made it clear this was not a suggestion.

“Yeah,” Shao Fei sighed. “The captain has put me on desk duty for the next 6 weeks,” he grumbled. Tang Yi made a mental note to thank CID’s new captain when he got out of prison. At least someone had the sense to try and keep Shao Fei out of trouble.  
He looked at Shao Fei’s dejected face and couldn’t help a small smile.

“So… how long is that list now?”

* * *

_6._

When Tang Yi walked into the visiting room and saw not Shao Fei but Zhao Zi, his heart nearly stopped. He actually stopped in his tracks for a second, the guard accompanying him nearly bumping into him, before practically sprinting to the partition and scrabbling the receiver from its hook.

“Ta-“

“What happened? Is he okay?!”

“He’s okay,” Zhao Zi said quickly, and for a moment Tang Yi felt dizzy, relief washing over him. He sank into the seat on legs that suddenly trembled under him.

“He’s… in the hospital…” Zhao Zi explained nervously. “But Dr Jiang says he’s going to be fine.”

Dr Jiang. Thank god for Dr Jiang, thank god there were people looking out for Shao Fei while he couldn’t. Tang Yi dragged a hand over his face, rubbed his knuckle into eyes suddenly stinging with unshed tears.

“What happened?” he repeated shakily.

“Warehouse raid,” Zhao Zi said simply. “It was supposed to be a simple op, a small smuggling ring. But our intel was wrong. The group had gang connections and were much more heavily-armed than we were told. It turned into a gunfight.”

Tang Yi’s heart sat in his chest like a lump of solid ice. “He was shot?” he asked raggedly.

Zhao Zi hunched in on himself like he expected Tang Yi to break through the glass partition and throttle the messenger. “In the leg,” he admitted anxiously.

Tang Yi felt sick. The thought of Shao Fei, his Shao Fei, lying bleeding on a warehouse floor with bullets flying…

Violence was a fact of life in the gang world, and one he’d grown up with, and been comfortable with. Strength, or at least the perception of it, was vital to survival in gang culture, and violence was a necessary, and effective, tool. And yes, he’d been working to reform Xin Tian Meng and move away from that life… but he still hadn’t hesitated to use violence to achieve that reform, and to punish those who opposed him.

It wasn’t until Shao Fei had been shot protecting Hong Ye that the reality of the consequences of that violence had really begun hit him. He’d lost people to it before – it was an evitable part of gang life. And he’d lost the person who meant the most to him – Tang Guo Dong – to that violence and it had filled him with rage and vengeance, a desire to visit that violence back upon the perpetrator, a hatred that had nearly consumed him. An endless cycle of violence begetting violence.

But when Shao Fei had been caught up in the crossfire of his vengeance, and he’d been confronted with the prospect of losing someone who was beginning to mean so much to him, he’d begun to realise the true cost of that cycle of violence. But it had been hard, so hard, to let go of a lifetime’s learnings… and in the end he had very nearly let that violence destroy everything. It had taken the heart-stopping shock of shooting his own lover, of seeing Shao Fei bleeding and writhing in pain _because of Tang Yi’s own actions_ , to truly wake him up.

Violence led to loss, and sorrow, and grief. Over and over and over. And as much as he’d been a victim of that loss and grief himself, he’d also been the cause of it to a great many people over the years. He sometimes woke in the night, a cold sweat drying on his skin, his dreams filled with the faces of those who had suffered because of his decisions. Prison was his penance for the pain he’d caused, and his nightmares fuelled his determination to continue the reform of Xin Tian Meng upon his release.

But Shao Fei… Shao Fei was everything Tang Yi wasn’t. Good-hearted and kind, he believed the best of people, believed they could learn from their mistakes, believed they could change. He believed in Tang Yi, despite everything he’d done.

And now he was in hospital, a victim of gang violence once again, and Tang Yi couldn’t protect him, couldn’t even go see him, and it made his heart ache fiercely, that despite everything he had done and would continue to do to reform his own gang, the cycle of violence never seemed to end… and Shao Fei would always be in the line of fire, always putting his own life at risk in the name of justice.

Something of his turmoil must have showed on his face because Zhao Zi tried to comfort him, his expression earnest. “He’s going to be fine, Tang Yi. He’ll be off his feet for a few weeks but Dr Jiang said there should be no lasting damage.”

Tang Yi swallowed, blinking back tears.

“You’ve seen him?”

Zhao Zi nodded eagerly. “He’s the one who asked me to come today. He knew you’d be worried if he didn’t come to visit.”

“Oh and...” Zhao Zi’s face lit up, “…he gave me a message to give to you. He… he made me write it down...” he patted his pockets anxiously and fished out a scrap of paper.

He frowned in confusion as he read out, “I promise I was being careful. I’m sorry to worry you but not sorry that the list is longer.”

Zhao Zi shook his head. “I’m not sure that makes sense. I’m sorry, he was a bit drugged up when I saw him but that’s definitely what he said for me to tell you…”

He looked up from the slip of paper and nearly panicked when he found Tang Yi crying… and smiling.

* * *


	2. Epilogue

Tang Yi wasn’t expecting a visit the next week but the guard arrived to collect him anyway. His heart pounded in his chest as he followed the guard to the visiting room. Was it Zhao Zi again? Had something happened? Was Shao Fei more badly injured than they’d realised? Was he…?

He entered the visiting room fearing the worst, only to find his heart soar when he saw Shao Fei waiting on the other side of the partition. He was pale, dark circles under his eyes, and a pair of crutches was propped beside his seat, but he was alive, and he was here.

Tang Yi pressed a hand to the glass and Shao Fei did the same.

“Shao Fei,” he breathed the name like a blessing and Shao Fei smiled warmly.

“Tang Yi,” he said softly.

For a long moment they just sat like that, their hands almost touching, drinking in the sight of each other.

Tang Yi swallowed. “How are you?” he asked softly.

“I’m… okay,” Shao Fei allowed. “It hurts,” he admitted. “And those things are a pain,” he gestured at the crutches. “But I’m okay.”

He ducked his chin, his voice rough as he said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t come last week.” He looked up at Tang Yi earnestly, his open, expressive face full of regret. “I’m sorry I scared you so much.”

Tang Yi closed his eyes and let out a slow, careful breath. “I’m just glad you’re okay,” he said honestly.

Shao Fei’s smile looked thin and strained. “Me too.”

He looked tired, Tang Yi thought. Tired and ill.

“Are you getting enough rest?” he asked.

Shao Fei nodded. “I’m on medical leave for the next few weeks. And then desk duty for a while after that,” he pouted.

“But are you resting?” Tang Yi prodded.

Shao Fei laughed, but it rang hollow to Tang Yi’s ears. “Are you kidding me? Hong Ye won’t let me do anything but rest. She steals my crutches so I can’t get out of bed!”

“Shao Fei…”

Shao Fei’s smile crumpled.

“I… scared myself too…” he admitted. “I was so scared I would never see you again…. that I’d leave you all alone…” He blinked furiously, fighting back tears.

Tang Yi leaned forward, pressing his hand against the glass, wishing more than anything that he could put his arms around Shao Fei and hold him close.

“Shao Fei…”

Shao Fei sniffed, shook his head, and lifted his chin in that defiant way that Tang Yi knew so well, as though daring the world to contradict him.

“I will be more careful, I promise, Tang Yi!” he declared firmly. “I _will_ be here waiting for you when you come out.”

Tang Yi smiled, swallowed past the lump of emotion in his throat. “I know you will.”

Shao Fei pressed his hand up against Tang Yi’s and Tang Yi imagined he could feel the warmth of his palm though the layer of glass. He let his smile turn teasing.

“After all, as you said, I have so much to make up to you for…”

Shao Feis eyes widened in surprise, his smile lighting up his face. He pursed his lips…

“And then there’s the list,” he added thoughtfully.

“Yes,” Tang Yi nodded in mock seriousness, “and there’s the list…”

He gave Shao Fei a look that was equal parts stern and exasperated.

“Just please, Shao Fei… don’t let the list get any longer.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so I pretty much can't resist whumping Shao Fei. :D :D :D


End file.
